Return too many items on Amazon? Will Amazon Ban your Account?

If you are an Amazon shopper, you must be very happy with their service and convenient return policy, especially when you buy items shipped and sold by Amazon. They even pay for return shipping if your received item is defective or doesn’t match the description.

However, it doesn’t mean that you can abuse the system and use it as a try-out/rental service. Many Amazon accounts have been suspended when users request refunds excessively and there is no way to appeal the decision. So, what is the return limit and how to avoid being banned by Amazon?

When will Amazon ban your account? What’s the return limit?

Amazon is collecting data of all your transactions and they will stop doing business with you when they lose money. Till now, no one knows the exact return limit. In my case, I shop a lot on Amazon in the last 5 years and spend around $1200/month on the site. I buy almost everything on the site, from cheap products like groceries, books, toilet paper to expensive laptops and electronics. That means I also return more when they don’t meet my expectation. In the last 2 months, I returned 2-3 items each month and the value of refunded items was larger than the value of what I kept. That’s the reason why I received a warning from Amazon:

“We’re writing to apologize for the number of issues you’ve experienced with your shipments. Your correspondences with us indicate you’ve required refunds on a majority of orders for a number of reasons.”

They also said that I had an unusually high rate of problems and they will evaluate each account on a case-by-case basis and might close my account if necessary. Fortunately, this is just a warning and Amazon want to work with me to avoid the worst case. They recommended to comply with Amazon policies or both of Amazon buying and selling accounts will be banned.

I tried to access my order history on the website but it failed to log in or redirected me to the digital content library. Fortunately, I managed to check my orders in the Amazon app on my phone. In the last 6 months, I ordered 104 items and returned 18 items, so the rate of return is approximately 17% of the total number of purchased items. Besides, the total value of returned items takes just over 10% of total price of my purchases.

I sent Amazon an email to appeal the decision but they decided not to restore my account and said the decision is final.

Update 1: My wife returned a bicycle purchased in her account. Just a few days later, Amazon decided to cancel both of the accounts for not meeting the terms of Conditions of Use agreement. They said I cannot open a new account or use another account to order on the site. All open orders were canceled, I just could access digital content purchased in the account. I had over $100 in my gift card balance and Amazon agreed to send me the refund, I received a check in my mailbox after 1 week.

Update 2: Since my Amazon.com account is banned, all other services including Amazon Seller and Amazon Associates accounts were also closed. After contacting the customer service and explaining how I was a valuable member, they investigated and sent me another email.

I’m very sorry that I’ve had to close your Associates account with Associate ID because we’ve been told the attached Amazon.com account will be closed within 24 hours. If you should ever wish to reconsider, we’d certainly welcome you back to the program with a different email address. You can apply for a new Associates account anytime. Your unpaid balance due to you will be paid out 60 days following the end of this month. You’ll continue to receive monthly payment reports and occasional announcements regarding tools, and features for up to 60 days after the end of this month. We look forward to seeing you again.

How to Avoid Being Banned

When you receive the warning email, you should immediately check your Amazon account to find out unusual account activities. If you return too many items lately, you should have good reasons and don’t forget to take some pictures if the products are defective or different from what you ordered. Then you should reply to [email protected]n.com and explain what went wrong with your orders.

In case you are abusing the system and returning items without legit reasons, you should stop immediately and also send them an email saying you will be more careful buying products in the future. Try to keep the return rate lower than 10%.

After sending them an email, I received a polite response from Amazon and seemingly my account will be alright.

Hello,

Thanks for writing to us and we are sorry for any misunderstandings with the email you received.

We’re concerned about the activity on your account and want to do all that we can to avoid the inconvenience you experience having to make frequent and possibly avoidable returns of the items you purchase from Amazon.com and with any delivery issues with your orders.

We contacted you so we could better understand the activity on your account and learn how to improve your shopping experience.

Your account remains open and available for your use. If you have any concerns regarding your orders, please contact our customer service and they will help you accordingly.

We appreciate your understanding, and hope to see you again soon.

Best regards,

Account Specialist

In a recent statement, Amazon mentioned that they are forced to close accounts when they detect extreme abuse but it only happens after they carefully review the account and work with the customer over an extended period of time.

Have you got any issue with your Amazon account? Share with us in a comment below.

DonL “we’ll see who’s to blame.” Sounds like you are blaming Geoff before getting the facts. I recently got banned for returns. It was a crazy high percentage in one bad month. But yes there were all defective. I wasn’t abusing / trying and returning. Problem was that I ordered too many cheap products one month. One of many examples, Amazon fulfillment shipping a USB device + CD packaged in sandwich bag!!!. CD cracked in shipping, replacement came with a CD completely scuffed. Was an Amazon customer for over 11 years. Didn’t have these problems before. Complete ban is excessive in my opinion. It would be more effective to have a temporary ban or even allow purchases but limit returns until the “ratio” is acceptable 1% 0.1% 0.01%(more than reasonable). Customer still has the option of manufacture warranty claim in worst case. Prime gives you a false sense of security, I ended up buying more and was also much more willing to try the cheaper products because of Amazon’s “Guarantee”. I even checked with customer service before initiating some returns and they said I should return, CIS banned me afterwards. Amazon customer service and Amazon CIS are two separate departments that don’t communicate with each other and tell you two different things. These warnings/bans are algorithm generated and [email protected] are overseas reps working off a script.

ahhh. so that explains it. I too got banned for too many returns and my orders cancelled. I thought there were several peeps at the cis acccount. I had spoken to cust sevice MANAGER who suggested I cancel an order, she would refund +$20 and then reorder for delivery next day as I was prime member. The next day I try to log in only to find I was banned. cis told me all my orders were cancelled. However, 3 bed frames et al are left at my front door 3 days later. SInce I bought elsewhere and cis said they cancelled, I told them they need to arrange p/u. I got a real Einstein who tells me I need to provide order numbers. I replied I cannot since they closed my account and she would have to do it.
I further explained I owed for one bed frame since I decided I might as well keep. Just did not compute. CIs told me they had reviewed my account and I did not owe. What kills me is they write as tho I am a moron, ie., giving me the bank name & fone number for Amazon visa bank and Amazon store card. Somehow they decide I am owed a refund but have no info on me to send a check. Getting UPS labels took a week of back and forth emails as they would issue as tho my account was still active. I actually thought these people were brain dead! I’m so aggravated I want to write Jeff Besos a snail mail since reception is not able to put any calls thru to anyone except cis.

I did have a number of returns just before this but they were returned unopened (ie saleable) b/c the info on the website not accurate plus phony reviews.

I agree with Bob prime membership gives a false sense of security but there have been many times I NEEDED the product immediately and it never arrived, So I paid for shipping I did not get.

Plus I still cannot get on Amazon kindle despite me getting the same generic banning all of you above got.

I honestly think this was a rush to judgement by a low level clerk (b/c of return of bed frame suggested by customer service MANAGER) and there was no backing down. I can’t say I was terribly nice about it after the fact tho. I did try to appeal but got the auto ‘forget it, get lost’
I’m wondering how the O.P. got account back.

I returned 2 items, over $100 each… spoke to customer service, explained reason for return and concern to avoid misunderstanding, as well as included note in return. This was in October and November 2015. I made 15 purchases in early December for approx 3 times the purchase price of those returns. On December 28th I received an email stating my account was closed. All efforts to explain, or get an explanation have been rejected. When you are the largest retailed, you can say go when there is no sun. I was a member for 10 years… received first and only notification regarding returns in September 2015.

Furthermore… Kindle, lost value… fire, lost value, game and movie purchases, now an inconvenience… customer service may be domestic, but has zero correspondence with the cis (account specialist) department definitely lives on cut and paste scripts.

What an arrogant prick you are. You automatically decide to side with amazon without knowing really any of the facts. I hope you get a bunch of defective crap from them and then blame yourself for ordering defective crap. What a complete jerk you are.

So people are not allowed to side with Amazon now? Amazon is a privately listed commercial company if they are not up to your expectation then just don’t do any business with them, vote with your wallet and not just your mouth. Calling someone “jerk” and “prick” and cursing them is simply uncalled for.

LOL I rapped this sh*tty place you called a business for loads from computers, cameras, movies, video games, etc.. Got banned and came back a year later to rape for more. Moral of the story, don’t treat your customers like dirt or else they’ll do the same.

I am sure Amazon has good reason to ban abusive buyers. They are normally very accommodating on returns especially for Prime subscribers and it has to be a really excessive amounts returns for them to ban you. Many of you here know that they will go to the extent of issuing a full refund on the spot, without return at times should you insist. Knowing how fair and buyer-centric Amazon is would make me wonder why they would be willing to pass up a yearly $100 subscription, and profit on most of your internet purchases if you were not outright thieves trying to scam the system. You people are dishonestly trying to play the system that is based on the honor system.

Idiosynkrazy, if I were Amazon, I’d say it’s the same thing because you’re a financial liability to them even though it’s really the fault of the thieves. Ultimately, you have the option of preventing theft by arranging to have packages held at a UPS/FedEx/Post Office location or delivered to a more secure location (friend, family, workplace, neighbor who will be home, etc). The only option available to Amazon to prevent theft is to stop shipping packages to you.

Their market share is so big that they can fire customers that are too expensive to cater to. High return rates equate to additional shipping costs to return the items along with those same returns consuming warehouse space that could’ve been used for new items. I kept wondering if Amazon would crack down on the returns because their policy can easily be costly to the company in the long run regardless of whether a customer intended to abuse the policy or just happened to have several items that didn’t meet expectations. In the end, whatever is costly (or could potentially become costly) to a company will be considered for reduction/removal.

Yep, you’re done on their site. Forever. Maybe you’ll learn from this experience before it happens again, as other retailers are taking notice and following Amazon in their efforts to rid themselves of problem buyers…

Oh really J Goldberg? Other companies are taking notice and following Amazon in their efforts to rid themselves of problem buyers? Please do source this. Show proof of these many retailers who are following suit. I’m sure you can’t since you seem to get off replying here nonstop antagonizing people. Go outside kiddo.

I have noticed this trend which may not be as extreme as Amazon but definitely less favorable to customers. Toys R Us employed The Retail Equation which uses a risk model for determining patterns among customers, including but not necessarily those who abuse return policies. This third party asset protection agency even describes how their system flags customers who are genuinely honest but indecisive and suffer from “buyer’s remorse” which is not considered a legitimate reason to return merchandise.
I believe Sephora may use The Retail Equation also. And, even WalMart has recently taken steps to track and limit all returns.

Anyone siding with the banned buyers here are most probably themselves thief trolls who deserve to be banned from purchasing anywhere. Take your scam techniques to eBay instead, try to steal some more, and see that they will eventually ban you as well. Small time scammers like you will never amount to anything successful in life. Maybe after being banned you should resort to armed robbery and hopefully get shot and killed in the process, making this world a better place.

You Spencer, are the type of troll loser small time thief Amazon is trying to rid the internet of. You are undeserving of the right to any benefits of Amazon or anything else for that matter. Please take a gun, put it to your head, and pull the trigger. Help society be a better place for once in your lifetime.

What the f***? Goldberg is clearly an ass, but calling him a “kike” is even worse…so on that we agree…but somehow, even though we both arrived at that conclusion, you then think it’s appropriate to tell someone to kill themself? What exactly is the principle you’re operating on?

J Goldberg really? So you don’t see the problem as being rubbish SELLERS who sell defective items? How extraordinary. Or perhaps you are just trying to collect the top down-vote award for all of your ridiculous posts!

This is a real problem with sellers as well. they don’t take history into account it would seem from my experience as a couple of years as a amazon seller. Having had some 3k plus transactions in a year and the resulting shipping which has on occasion had it’s own fiascoes which of course the seller is held responsible for even if it was a fed ex or ups or usps issue…. Having only something like 10% or slightly less of buyers who leave feedback (in my experience) the times a buyer has abused the program is more often than anyone would like. There seems to be more and more of this occurring now as well.
Having some 270+ positive feedbacks that year i spoke above of, and some 3 negative, and 5 neutral, the incident where the negative feedback has been where the abuse was so obvious that the seller wishes to fight (one occasion a cash counter was returned with half it’s insides removed and the abusing buyer didn’t even bother to put the bottom back on so it fell apart in our hands as we removed it from the box on the return) and in turn be told by amazon that it was a cost of doing business that we must absorb.
that kind of thing really galls a seller. anyone i would think. the guy claimed it was the wrong kind and not the one pictured. claimed anything to get to steal our item and return only part of it, then insist on his money back.. plus making us pay for shipping BOTH ways…
Serious sellers on amazon do their utmost to make sure their items are both functional and in good working order and cosmetically at least better than they described. It doesn’t make any sort of business sense, or survivability on amazon as a seller, to do otherwise..
Believe me, the sellers are screwed alot harder and frequently by amazon than the buyers so who are the buyers to complain?

Costly to amazon??? no, they don’t loose a nickel, they win every time and the actual individual sellers are taking the total costs of problems. amazon very seldom funds anything and it is when they are sure the seller is telling the truth because the buyer has crossed himself up in his emails back and forth during the dispute.

Not entirely true – As an Amazon seller I know for a fact that Amazon charges the sellers a “Return Processing Fee” in a number of situations.

I feel outright ban of service is not the correct action Amazon should be taking in these cases. The should possibly start with informing the customer that due to the high rate of returns there will be a 15% restocking fee on ‘All’ returns for the next x months and if the problem persists they may be restricted from making ‘physical’ purchases for x months, revoke the prime membership (and refund a prorated amount) and only then if it still continues to be an issue consider a ‘ban’.

I have a friend who refuses to pay for return shipping so always makes up excuses so that Amazon will pay for the return. He received packages from Amazon 3 times a week, and returns often. He has never received any warning regards abusing the return system even though he really does. Makes me wonder how much a person has to return to be banned.

As a frequent but not huge Amazon shopper (few thousand a year) I find Amazon’s customer service to be the absolute best. Any problems I have with an order they are quick to mail a new one, refund a damaged one, and work with the customer in general. I can definitely see this being abused by certain customers as long as they give warnings prior. If they tell you, you are in danger of being banned due to returning too much, and you continue to return often, you deserve to be banned.

The was not a polite response that the sent, it was a form letter. Reply to that form letter and you will receive the exact same letter again. And again. And again. There was life (and business) before Amazon. Just walk away.

Which is a reason not to buy online. I prefer to see what I am buying. Too often the online pictures and descriptions are far better than the reality. Best to stick to things that are major name brands or DVD’s or books from Amazon. Get the rest locally.

I agree with December, what’s so convenient with Amazon anyway? I was banned and I sent them a nasty email to shove it! Retailers are a dime for 10 thousand and they are not any cheaper than any brick and mortar retailer. I can return items that don’t meet my specification or are defective. Walmart is a good alternative and with many retailers you can order online pick it up at the store, inspect it before you take it.

I purchase from Amazon because I am handicap which makes it very hard to shop at stores. Every item I purchased I intended to use and keep. Sometimes the items just does not work as advertised. Some months I purchase items more than others and sometimes I return more than usual. I really need Amazon for my shopping needs and I hope I don’t get banned.

As a seller on Amazon, this is music to my ears. Most people have no clue about how much product an Amazon seller takes a loss on due to frivolous returns. I know many sellers who have stopped offering certain products like consumer electronics, tablets, and laptops. This just drives the price up for all the honest customers. Here is a lesson that people need to understand: Don’t order an expensive sealed electronic device, open it and then return it UNLESS it is defective. Do your research BEFORE you buy. Most of the stuff that gets returned has to be liquidated at a loss. This is why I love to hear about abusive customers getting the Amazon ban hammer. These selfish people are ruining things for everyone. They are putting sellers out of business and should lose their buying privileges. Amazon should be about connecting honest buyers with honest sellers. Fewer frivolous returns will mean cheaper prices for everyone. If I know I’m going to get 30% of items returned I have to jack up my prices to at least break even. If returns go down, I can charge less and still know I’m not going to lose money. It’s really just that simple people. Be honest, be fair, don’t order 5 different brand new laptops to try them all out and then return 4 of them. That is incredibly selfish and will simply put vendors out of business unless Amazon steps in and revokes their buying privileges.

Hi all, I am a reporter for the Toronto Star, and I am interested in speaking to posters on this thread about returns. E-mail me at [email protected] and I’ll give you the details. Francine Kopun, Business Reporter, Toronto Star.

Well only sellers that can operate efficiently to afford to absorb these costs should survive. The point of Amazon is not to prop up sellers. If you have to raise your prices, raise them. If a competitor has a better model and does not have to raise there prices, they will live on and you won’t. If all sellers experience this and are operating at maximum efficiency, then costs will go up. Refunds and returns are simply costs.

That is really a stupid comment. No one can operate efficiently with even 10% returns. As soon as some items are opened they lose half their value, so 10% returns would mean a loss of 5% of net from the profit margin, this could be half or a quarter of all profits.

I sell on Ebay and Amazon, and I can tell you. all the problems I have had are with Amazon buyers. there are many more window shoppers on Amazon, there are many more uninformed buyers on Amazon (buying a business IP phone and trying to plug it in to a regular telephone jack, for example), and there are many more scam buyers on Amazon.

Ebays system allow buyers ti screen sellers, and Ebay is much better at screening bad buyers themselves. It is long past due for Amazon to crack down.

My highest end items, I do not sell on Amazon, I can’t afford a $2,000 loss to a window shopper. I also sell my items on ebay for less then I do on Amazon, because the cost of doing business with Amazon buyers is higher.

I think it is also having to pay for all of the return shipping fees which are free. I do not do prime & usually have to pay a restocking fee or I cannot return the item, thus, I do a lot of research before buying. Or I go to a physical store & get the merchandise there where it is easier to exchange/return. We do have the right to shop elsewhere.

While it’s not a “human right” (and neither is equality, food, or water), the poster is correct that there is a legal right and a general free market principle to return items that don’t meet expectations.

This J Goldberg must be an online seller who encountered problems with his buyers. As long as there has been a payment made by the buyer the buyerhas the right to expect the merchandise meets her expectation. We all have the right to receive what we pay for.

Exactly. It amazes me what people think business think they can do just because their private. I am not saying Amazon can’t ban people, but the law is very clear that business are responsible for the item they sell meeting the advertised expectations. In other words, it IS against the law (may or may not always be enforced, largely because people don’t realize they can fight it and sometimes its hard to fight) to sell something and then deliver something else or crap.

These posters may also be interested in knowing that businesses do not have the right to refuse service to anyone for any reason. When you open your doors the public, you have to follow certain laws…

Exactly! Even your comment on their supposed “right to refuse service” is spot on, it doesn’t exist. This is one of the biggest urban legends of business, that private business can refuse service to anyone. Private isn’t private when you service the public at large, and it becomes even less meaningful when you’re a publicly traded company. You can thank the civil rights act for eliminating a businesses ability to apply discretion in who they service.

My dad and sisters have returned several items but I haven’t however I’ve requested cancellations and am currently in a tug of war mashing the cancel button because right after I accidentally ordered I tried to cancel once and it told me it couldn’t because it would ship soon when the posted date clearly said that it wouldn’t ship until Monday.

I think this poster meant to say that you have the human right to seek recourse from injustices, i.e. right to seek recourse when a seller does not meet their end of the deal, which is exactly what receiving a product not described is legally. Legally, you could take Amazon to small claims every single time they sell you a defective or not described item.

I feel like if they can afford to give free shipping to my house for $99 a year then how can they not afford to pay for the return shipping of about 10-15% of those items back. I buy directly from Amazon and never a third party as the only two times I’ve bought from a third party I received a broken item and a falsely advertised one. I’m not buying big, heavy and expensive items, my consumption is mostly video games and blu rays with the occasional sundry item I can get using S&S. I do feel bad for the third party people getting screwed over with this process, but the Amazon direct items, they can just deal and pony up free returns. If I decide I don’t want a game or I find a better price somewhere, I should be able to return to them within my time frame like any other retailer.

Spencer, I completely disagree with J Goldberg, but I feel there is no need to bring his heritage and antisemitism into this. That’s disgusting and you should be ashamed. There are plenty of people from every race and religion that are greedy, rude and pompous. And you sir, just might be one as well.

When I first started reading the article I felt bad for those who got banned. However, if the attacks on Goldberg are any proof of who they are,
these boys show Amazon proved to have impeccable taste and showed excellent judgment in banning them.

That’s not entirely true Goldberg. While I agree with the *spirit* of your comments and the terms and conditions amazons sets being enforceable, if they were to refuse a return or treat it differently than other returns because of “excessive returns” but all the excessive returns were well documented and could be proven legitimate, then the law would require amazon to honor that refund without any specific restrictions.

I didn’t realize there is a return limit and that it can cause you to get banned. Something I’ve loved about Amazon is how convenient returns are. Some items are just impossible to know if they will work for you or not, so how can you not do returns? For example, I’m trying to buy some nice headphones and audio quality is subjective. The only way I can know if I like a set of headphones is to actually listen to them. I’m about to return a pair that I’m not satisfied with so I can try a different model (in hopes) it is the sound I’m looking for. I can understand Amazon cracking down on returns that are falsely identified as defective. But if I am paying the shipping/restocking fee, I should be able to return anything I want within the return window. If Amazon is losing money, then they need to increase the restocking fee to make up for it. Now I’m paranoid to use one of Amazon’s best features (simple returns) and it makes me wonder if I need to start shopping at local stores again.

just read this Yeah, the headphone thing and cpu thing. So they want to keep 2 crashed cpus and expensive, unsuABLE headphones. Right, Have a vision problem so I USE aMAMZON it when I can. Not driving to the store, I’d have them bring food it it was doable/afforable. I hope BeSoz reads this. 15 year customer Prime. Quite telling me to watch videos and other useless stuff and sell me my music, don’t want to rent IT. I need stuff right the first time. Quit PROMOTING fake reviews ( with free samples to them) instead and rettrrns will go own as a whole for the co. Don’t seLL me bum CPUs THAT DIE IN A MONTH and don’t bait and switch me from Amazon to X company during the checkout. Really,.
\

It’s tempting to shop from Amazon due to their enormously extensive inventory and highly competitive price if you look hard enough, and the temptation can increase if you have their prime membership, but it does seem like we all need to be careful with Amazon as what they are doing is putting on an illusion of easy returns and yet they are unofficially warning the mass with blogs like this and numerous forum threads where people rant about having been banned. I even heard that when they ban you they will also ban the people who you sent gifts to so that means BY GETTING BANNED YOU COULD END UP GETTING YOUR FRIENDS AND RELATIVES AND FAMILY WHO DON’T LIVE AT YOUR HOUSEHOLD, which doesn’t seem fair nor reasonable. Personally, I do think universal life time ban is excessive. I wish ban is proportional to the severity of their return or whatever policy abuse they deem in their eyes. Perhaps one to few years ban based how many returns you made could be within reason. Personally, I think I should shop around more instead of shopping at Amazon, and I think Amazon’s strict policy of life time ban will reduce their sale by making people to shop around which is not good for their revenue. Amazon should clarify what the return limit is.

I spent a lot on amazon throughout the years. This year at xmas more than normal amount of gift i bought were not as wanted as i thought theyd be. Amazon cancelled my acct. I dont blame them completely. But their listed return policy makes you feel as though you should come on in and not worry. Nov 1st through jan. 31st. Returns are welcome. Well. That isnt the case. I even spent the 99.00 this year for prime. (first time in 5 years with amazon)
I understood when i had been banned that it was due to those xmas returns. I tried reaching out to amazon to explain im no 50 and my children are w5 to 30. That i may have lost grasp as to what they like for xmas. That I’d likely send cash and let them do as they pleased from now on. That i had a 5 year relationship with them. That i was a prime member and very much like the 3 fire tvs I have and tge orograming that orime gives. That i have an amazon credit card. Etc. In the end amazon was very firm. I am no longer allowed to purchase.
Over the last 5 years my return levels where never as extreme. In the end i used my prime acct for 3 months and amazon kept every penny of it. I cant imagine they lisy 99 in 3 months. Plus id been with them for 5 years. I feel a bit used. Considering when i started shopping with them they where a much smaller. And needed me and many more like me to become as large as they have become. To my defense. All the moneys from the returns were reused on amazon for gifts my children would like before the acct was closed. And to be fair amazon said i could return the 3 fire tvs. I did not return th fire tvs but they did offer.
Really a shame though.I felt like I had been a good customer to them for over 5 years.

Christine, for the benefit of those who haven’t been banned, what percentage of your purchases did you return, what was the dollar amount of your returns, and how many returns did you do, if you don’t mind sharing that info? I think Amazon prime mebership can be a trap. It makes you buy more which can increase your return, and you can get banned for life. I think we all really need to reduce our puchasea from Amazon, or Amazon needs to relax their “unofficial” policy. Apply life time ban to those who steal, but lesser issues, few months to few years of ban is more within reason. I think current life time ban policy for all problem customers will hurt Amazon down the road, as there are companies such as Jet trying to compete with Amazon.

Leave your emotions and your ” confrontational attitude” aside, boys. They won’t really help you in today’s real world.. Amazon is a business and a very efficient one. It’s the direction the world is taking. Competition is international… is fierce…. and there is no room to let your guards down for any reason. We have become numbers. That is how I read what Goldberg is saying. Good advice… you would benefit from listening to it and applying it to your lives.

Wait a while and send them a detailed email explaining what you said here (well written) and then list each item returned and why. They are more likely to approve an appeal after time. Appealing the day you get banned isn’t productive as probably everyone that gets banned does that.

To Christone, if you don’t mind, what was your return rate, what was the approximate dollar value of your returns, and how many returns were they for the benefits of current Amazon shoppers? It seems to me Amazon Prime Membersip can be a trap. It makes you buy more from Amazon which can increase your return, and you can be banned for life. Unless if it is for theft, I think better policy wilbe to ban for several months to several years or refuse returns. I don’t think Banning everyone they don’t find profitable for life is good for Amazon’s business. It will make people to reduce their shopping at Amazon. There are aspiring companies trying to compete with Amazon who don’t ban people for life.

A trap it is. I ended up buying more after Prime, but unfortunately more “discount” items that just had a higher failure rate. Amazon made money off of me for the first 10 years, and they may have lost money in that last month but I was basically a customer for life. Didn’t seem like a smart decision but there are other options like Jet.com

Hey Goldberg where’s a source for that? Show us the source that research shows problem buyers don’t change their habit. Let’s see it. You claim all this bullcrap with no facts to back it up. You’re a troll and a bad one at that.

A trap it is. I ended up buying more after Prime, but unfortunately more recently “discount” items that just had a higher failure rate. Amazon made money off of me for the first 10 years, and they may have lost money in that last month. Didn’t matter that I spent double the money right after my bad luck streak. I was basically a customer for life and it didn’t seem like a smart decision but there are other options like Jet.com. The ban is based off a computer algorithm and CIS is operating off a script.

I bought 160 items and returned about 40. I guess I should be careful? A lot of my returns were clothes that had free return marks for prime members, and I’m a prime member. No warning email and customer service says my account is in good standing though. I’d like to know if returning free return items sold directly by Amazon counts against your account if anyone has an opinion. I never bought two sizes with the intent to return the one that doesn’t fit.

To J Golberg: Was I blaming Amazon for my returns???? I simply said I should be careful meaning to buy less from Amazon and shop around more so it will be less like I need to return to Amazon, and buy less overall. I can see that you’re probably a seller who had issues with your buyers, but please do not generalize people into problem buyers and make inflammatory comments.

Dude you are really a piece of shit. Everyone knows it is common practice to try on 3 or 4 pairs of jeans and keep 1 that fits best. That is a 75% return rate. It has been what people who shop in the mall do for decades, that’s what changing rooms are for dickhead. For a great many online clothing retailers, the same is basically expected. This is trivial because, unlike returns of electronics which must be sold at a huge discount because they are contaminated, garments are expected to be fully resellable as new. But apparently Amazon hasn’t gotten the concept through their heads or doesn’t have the professionalism to warn their customers they do clothing DIFFERENT than any clothing businesses and customers should beware lest they fuckup their accounts which have pristine records on purchases for tons of books, electronics, etc. that they never return. Amazon are being fucking douchebags and thank god for informative sites like this I realized I need to stop immediately buying anything “risky” from Amazon ever again. No clothes. No electronics that aren’t from a top tier maker. No Chinese made shit. And nothing from 3rd parties that send me fake shit like these goddamn Gucci glasses frames for $178 that are fake as hell and now going to cause me to risk getting banned and losing access to 12 years of Audible audiobooks.

Conversely, wise merchants won’t continue to conduct business with those who’ve established a record of eroding their return of investment.

It’s amusing watching so many people desperately clamor for months on end to be allowed re-entry to a business they’ve had such horrible experiences with.
I haven’t shopped Amazon in fifteen years. There are better options,

While it’s clear you enjoy your role as a perpetually victimized and dissatisfied customer, no retailer is obligated to subsidize it. They’ve moved on, and now it’s your turn.

you simply retarded and needs to get banned from buying anything from private companys unless your father will verify your sanity and respect for other peoples money and time!
But it seems to me you never had a father to tell you about right and wrong and not least respect for other people and their buisiness!

Justin, maybe you are unaware of the fact that Amazon has to pay the shipping to and from you- quite different than walking into an Old Navy and returning 75% of what you purchased. 75% returns on anything should be expected?? LOL! If so. Amazon, and all clothing etailers for that matter, would have been out of business a long time ago..

This isn’t true, buying clothes is different, most clothing retailers allow free returns. Amazon mustn’t understand the industry if that’s the case. Either way, Amazon is more expensive than a lot of retailers. Don’t really see the point in it.

My account was closed. I returned a lot of electronic items that that were damaged. All was explained in the descriptions when required. Also, I contacted amazon customer service – four times – regarding the issue of consistently receiving faulty devices. Four times I received a reply that stated “we have no comment on the issue”. They claim I violated the terms and conditions, but there is no clear limit on returning damaged items, and nothing was ever returned out side of the allotted dates, all packing was always included, and a clear explanation was supplied. There were items I received that were slightly damaged that I kept, because the damage was minor, but those times when I called to complain, I was encouraged by the reps to return the item as well. Fortunately I have found a light at the end of the tunnel. There are many other great retailers that actually sell the same items for less. Amazons return policy was one of their biggest advantages for me, but they are by far the not cheapest. And in my case not at all as convenient as they seem. I consider them closing the account as a favor to me. I am more aware of how I spend my money. But I do think they need to either change their policy, and reinstate some of the accounts they have closed. There is a very dark side to amazon. And if they are willing to treat their employees like trash – I’m to some recent articles I read – why would they not treat their customers the same way?

I think Amazon has two options:
1) Make their return policy more stringent and lose customers they have not banned.
2) Keep the “officially” generous return policy as is, ban whoever they feel is costing them more than profiting them.

I think option 1 will be more profitable in terms of revenue for a business. However, as words get around about Amazon’s “unofficially” stringent policy of life-time ban, I think it will cost Amazon one way or another eventually down the road. Again, I do think life-time is excessive, and should be applied only to those who steal. I hope Amazon will consider limited ban such as several months to several years of ban in other cases. If not, I personally will be much more selective about what I buy from Amazon resulting in buying less from Amazon.

I just got my account closed on Amazon. I think I’m a bit the opposite of all the other experiences I’ve read in terms of reaction. I saw it coming, and I know it’s my fault, and I should have adjusted the the way I was utilizing the return system for Amazon. If anything the only issue I see is the fact that Amazon says people are violating policy, but there is no written policy about the amount of return frequency allowed. If they were to say something about it, I think a lot of customers would stop abusing it. I received an email more than once that my account would be looked at because of excessive returns. The only reason I didn’t change my actions was because when I responded the account specialist told me that my account was not in jeopardy of being closed and to continue with my normal practices. I think I misinterpreted what the specialist meant. I think it did not mean I should go back to making excessive returns, but should adjust myself and for now I’m not in jeopardy. Really, it’s my fault.

Other than that the only gripe I have is the fact that Amazon who is the “most customer centric company” in the world has no systems in place for a person to get some kind of good explanation from a real person over the phone. All you get is generic scripted emails regardless of what you say. I asked about the policy, and got a generic email. I then asked another question and got a different version of the same email.

Hi Brian, if Amazon gave you warning email more than one time, then that’s whole lot better than getting your account closed with no warning which is what a lot of people seem to have complained about.

Hopefully Amazon is changing their approach when banning people. If they are going to ban for life, giving warning in advance does make the ban approach more fair.

True. I think what annoyed me is that an auto generated email doesn’t give enough detail to really address what the problem is. Amazon has no stated policy on return ratios. Yet the auto generated email says that I was making excessive returns which is against their policy. Then the email tells me to go to a link where I find no information. I emailed the representative back and this was his reply, ” Your account will remain open and is not at risk of being closed at this time. We will continue to welcome your returns within our posted returns policy.”

This made me think that I was okay and in no danger of being closed. However, I did alter my practices to return less. For example my final 15 orders I returned 4. They were all clothing items that are labeled as, “free returns”. I’m still accepting of the ban though, I’m going to save a lot of money in the long run. I would say 80-90% of my orders were purchased because of a deal and not because I was looking for the item I bought.

Brian, I think you just shared an important piece of info that tells you can be banned for returning clothings, shoes marked as “free return” and sold directly by Amazon. There are those who think returning free returns sold by Amazon won’t count against you.

If you don’t mind, just how much were your returns percentage-wise and dollar amount-wise? I’m asking so readers can get some feel for a possible threshold Amazon doesn’t disclose. That way I and readers can shop more prudently. Thanks again for any info you share.

Well I’ll go through my last 15 orders and my last 6 months and give an idea along with an item type break down.

I can still log in on my phone for some reason even though the account is banned.

Out of the preceding 15 orders I returned 3 items.

Out of the preceding 6 months I ordered 98 items and returned 38.

So that is 38.8% of my orders were returned.

Of that 38%, almost 80% were clothes that we’re “free returns”, which I have no idea what that means but at the time assumed meant I could order freely and return freely for any reason. At one point I was ordering and returning many clothing items to stock up for winter as I am temporarily in Idaho but am from California. I think I returned 5 pairs of boots back to back all of which were free returns. I went a bit crazy thinking that the return policy was almost the same as trying on in the store. My fault.

The other returns were random items that were either faulty or I simply did not like.

Hi Brian, thanks for sharing. 38.8% return doesn’t seem that much especially if a lot of those were clothing. (I guess I need to stop returning clothing that doesn’t fit me right and just take the loss?) What was the dollar amount of your returns like if you don’t mind sharing?

I assume you’re not able to make purchases when you log into Amazon on your phone? I assume before you bought Amazon Prime membership, your Amazon purchases were a lot less, and returns a lot less as well?

This is certainly not an attack on Brian. He realizes how he got here and is doing us all a favor by putting it out in the open to help us make better decisions – Thanks, Brian!

That being said, 38.8% returns does sound like a lot to me since we’re talking about Amazon and third-party vendors eating the shipping costs on 38 items in 6 months. Even if every item he returned was in new and resalable condition, Amazon et al. probably paid at least $100 in shipping costs for items that ended up back in its inventory. Note: I used Amazon to run pseudo-orders and found that ordering 10 items could bring the shipping down to about $3 per order plus $1 per additional item on average, if you have more t-shirts than hiking boots in the order (Amazon charges $5.50 to ship one pair of boots, so even if they actually only pay $4 for shipping plus the box, that’s still $8 per return x 5 returns for $40, and then there are still 33 items returned). If the orders were heavier or more frequent, shipping costs go up from there. For the 60 items Brian kept, I estimate that Amazon probably spent about $60 in shipping (one-way), which they consider part of the cost of business.

Without knowing the actual per item profit (since Brian tended to buy deals rather than items at or very near the MSRP) and actual shipping costs, it’s hard to say how much money Amazon made from Brian during those 6 months. At an average price of $40 reflecting 20% gross profit, Amazon would net $320 for the 98 items (60 purchases and 38 non-purchases). At an average price of $20 reflecting 15% gross profit, Amazon would net $20. At $16 and 15%, Amazon would lose $16. So it really depends on whether Brian’s orders were more of the $80-$120 shoes and power tools variety or the $12 t-shirts and books variety, and presumably that’s what Amazon’s automated formula takes into account.

Hypothetical numbers aside, I think all parties would be better served if Amazon was more clear about the policy. There is no warning on the website that the “free return” policy is not to be treated as a “buy it and try it” opportunity but rather as a safeguard against occasional problems with sizing, color-matching, poor product description, etc. On the one hand, it’s irresponsible for customers to overuse the free return option (such as ordering 10 pairs of shoes with the intent of keeping only 1 or 2, especially if they are ordered, shipped, and returned one at a time at Amazon’s expense). On the other hand, Amazon could reduce this problem by at least informing customers that they risk losing their account if the cost of providing free returns becomes too costly. Better yet, Amazon could place a limit on the number of free returns a customer can make (e.g., Free returns are limited to 10 items per customer per year, or 20 items per household address per year, whichever occurs first).

Further, I think it’s disingenuous for Amazon to emphasize free returns to intentionally attract customers or encourage additional purchases (what other purpose could the policy serve?) and then secretly hold it against customers who use the policy more than Amazon intended. Amazon calls it abuse, but the existence of this discussion demonstrates that customers don’t know where the line is between using free returns and abusing free returns, and it’s entirely because Amazon does not disclose the policy. And the reason Amazon doesn’t disclose the policy is because they would lose some of their competitive value. They want customers to feel like it’s as safe to shop there as it is to shop at a brick and mortar store where you can see/touch/try on the item without risk. It’s not a lie (the returns are free after all), but it is misleading: there is a widely unknown risk (I didn’t know about a potential ban until I stumble onto this page) that customers should be able to take into consideration when comparing Amazon with their competitors for a specific purchase. Now that I know, it’s smarter for me to only buy known items from Amazon and be very careful about trying anything new through them.

I live in the Dallas, TX area, and I’ve tried for 6 weeks to find a store that sells any of the running shoes I want (and this is after trying on 15 other alternatives that I hoped to buy instead but couldn’t get a comfortable fit, and I’m not paying $130 for shoes that I hope will become comfortable once I’ve put 50 miles on them when I know my last 6 pairs were comfortable right out of the box). No luck. So I look online and Amazon is usually the best price for me, plus free returns if these shoes that I’ve never tried on don’t fit (they are new models, so they may not fit like my old pair, even though I’ve read every review I can find and used the little sizing charts and fit wizards on the manufacturers’ websites). So here I am, having ordered 2 pairs and planning to return 1 pair because they are much too narrow despite being officially the same length and width as the other pair from the same manufacturer. I also ordered 2 more pairs ((and yes, I do intend to keep all 3 if both of the new pairs fit because I like to rotate my shoes). But now I learn that I might have been better off ordering from someone who does charge for returns because if these don’t fit and I end up returning 3 out of 4 pairs in one month, I could lose my account even though I’ve only returned 3 other items in the last 10 years (yep, also shoes, for the same reasons). Hopefully, that’s not enough to trigger a ban, but it has only been 2 years since those returns, and I’m not a high-volume or high-price shopper, so I really don’t know how the percentage works out for me. I would really hate to lose access to their inventory when most of what I buy are things that don’t require a specific fit and would be hard to imagine returning. Still, if the $85 shoes are uncomfortable the moment I put them on my feet, it would be hard to eat that cost just so I could order the occasional book, earbuds, etc. After all, I chose Amazon because they offer free returns and I don’t want to be stuck with $85 shoes that don’t fit, and Amazon offers free returns because they want me to choose them when trying something new (I wouldn’t need free returns if I knew the shoes would fit). So am I abusing the free returns, or is that what free returns are for? I guess we’ll find out.

Doesn’t seem like much?? Amazon paid over $100 on his returns from the last 6 months alone. Reminder: that’s more than the YEARLY prime membership cost in half the duration.

Brian, thank you for sharing your experience but I agree with Amazon (and with you). That is an unreasonable amount of returns in such a short period. I don’t think it matters how much you buy without returning. I think it’s just a cost – benefit analysis.

“Hi Brian, thanks for sharing. 38.8% return doesn’t seem that much especially if a lot of those were clothing.”

Come on! Damn near 40% returns doesn’t seem like that much? So Clothing merchants should expect somewhere near this? I assume that’s why you said “Especially if a lot of those were clothing”

He returned boots 4 times, that costs in excess of $15 per incident one way! $15 x 8 = $120 in “free” shipping alone! The cost of goods will eventually be impossible to meet if this kind of nonesense keeps going. Increasing shipping costs and the belief by retailers that this is required to aquire the sale is what will kill ecommerce. Brick and Morter only has to survive another decade before ecommerce dies because it’s driven out of the market by costs.

Oh yes, I was added onto my Father’s account on prime, so it was free for me. A group of us were on the same account. Luckily we’re all in different addresses and states, so it doesn’t seem to have affected his account. I bought way less before prime.

Yes I can log in on my phone and look at any information including orders, but I can’t on the computer it just keeps saying wrong password, which I guess is characteristic of Amazon bans. I only want to get back in to see my rather extensive wish list to remind myself of items I was going to get.

As far as prices. I would say that only once or twice was the item more than a hundred. I’m too lazy to go and look but I either returned shirts, jackets, or shoes. Along with other $15-30 dollar items. So I would say the largest portion was 15-30 dollar returns with the rest being under a hundred but a bit more expensive.

In other words majority were under 100 dollar items.

..and yes I just get an error on my phone if I try to make a purchase. Truthfully, it’s been awesome, my online shopping addiction was forcefully broken. I’ve bought 2 items since the ban online, my wife’s really happy about the reduction in frivolous expenditures.

What happens to your past kindle books or audible audiobook purchases you paid for? I find it interesting that no one has mentioned this glaring concern. It would seem to be lawsuit worthy material for amazon to effectively steal those from you by denying continued access to these.

Only with devices already registered before your account is cancelled. If you replace your phone, your digital purchase are gone because you can’t log in to register a new device. They’re stealing from people, basically.

Compulsive and excessive returning is a key cyclical component of shopping addiction, and left unchecked, will only escalate until enough damage has been done to where the addict decides to take action.

Brian,
IMHO, your return rate doesn’t seem excessive in dollar amount nor in percentage. I’m not clear why you got banned. Was the returns only issue, or did you ask amazon customer services for concession such as partial discount for any items having defects/blemishes, or after sale price matches, or were you paying for most of your purchases using amazon gift card? Did you make any complaints to Amazon customer service or bought items in large bulks repeatedly?

If your issue was only the returns, it sounds like your return issues didn’t last too long since you seemed to have started returning a lot after you got on your dad’s prime membership. However, I’m not sure how you were able to be put on your dad’s prime membership because amazon allows sharing prime membership with family members living at same household at one address. If at different address, amazon doesn’t allow sharing prime membership.

Well, I base my business decisions on my opinions. If Amazon chooses not to provide a clear definition of the line between using free returns as intended and abusing free returns, I have to rely on my own judgment. In my opinion, Amazon offers free returns because they want you to feel confident in buying an item that you haven’t tried before or from a vendor whose authenticity/quality is unknown to you (otherwise, I wouldn’t need free returns and would base my purchases solely on price). While I do think 40% returns is too high, I’m still left guessing on where Amazon draws the line, so all I can do is shop honestly, use the free returns in a manner I consider fair to both parties, and hope Amazon’s formula agrees.

And now that I’ve argued with a troll, it’s time to quit the internet for today.

A 40% return rate is very high. It’s understandable with items like clothing, but still high and that’s why I don’t buy clothing online. If it doesn’t fit, which it’s very likely not to, you have to pay return shipping. For those with amazon prime I guess amazon pays the return shipping. They should really make it a little more clear that buyers can’t abuse the system or even pull back a little on how freely they take returns.

However as a 3rd party seller on amazon I am glad to see they actually do something about buyers who return too much. Sellers are held to super strict standards and will be banned if we get too many a-z claims, neg or neutral feedback, ship late, too many refunds, ect. Except our % have to be MUCH lower. A mere 1% a-z claim for orders, 2.5% order cancel rate, 4% late shipment rate. For refunds they don’t state a % but if it gets high we can be banned for that. Each and every buyer return is a refund that counts against us.
Not to mention the lost money. My products are under $15 with free shipping. Each buyer that changes their mind, accidental order, claims defective in order to get free return shipping, doesn’t measure or read size, or finds a similar item for a better price and returns it I have to eat at least $4 for fees and shipping (assuming the buyer pays postage as more and more often it’s under paid and arrives postage due). Plus the packaging usually needs replaced and sometimes it’s returned 1-2 months later with signs of use. Yes we can choose to charge 20% restock fee but that risks the buyer opening an a-z or leaving negative feedback, which too many will get you banned.

Then there are products we ship to amazon that they fulfill. My return rate is much higher on those for people changing their mind because they have easy amazon returns and possibly free return shipping from amazon. Each product has to be shipped back to me for a fee, inspected and repackaged. Sometimes thrown away if it’s too damaged. Amazon needs to be more restrictive with their return policy.

You’d need to legally change your name and seek asylum in Eastern Europe….
It’s a moot point though, as you’ll surely repeat the cycle that got you banned in the first place, and…..surprise! You’ll be banned again..

Eventually your credit card provider will start to side with the seller on your chargeback claims as well. Thieves fit a predictable pattern- especially in the digital age- this is not lost on Amex or MasteCard either..

I’ve been shopping at Amazon for over 10 years and I’ve purchased around 300 items. In all this time, I’ve only returned 3 or 4 items. Most recently 2 different pairs of Bluetooth earbuds that stopped working after 1 week.

I’m around 1% return rate. I can even understand 10% return rate if you buy knock-off or odd items. But 50%??? Really? You can give all the anecdotal cases you want, but if you are spending that much time repacking and returning items, you’d me hard pressed to convince me ALL those items were being returned legitiamately.

I have returned a total of two items in the last several years (small ticket items). After I read the article about Amazon.com banning people who return too many items, I decided to take the hit and never return anymore items in the future. As for big ticket items, I will shop locally for my protection. I was stunned that they would resort to this type of harsh treatment of their customers’ who keep them in business. Unfortunately, if you do not want to get banned do not return any damn thing! And I mean any damn thing!

I buy a LOT of things off Amazon, and between prime music and echo and their credit card we are an Amazon house. Before prime I never bought clothes on amazon, but since I became a member I have done so on occasion. While you can never be certain something will fit, their “free returns” policy made these purchases seem risk free and I started to change my buying habits. Not anymore. These stories are too worrisome. I think the best policy is DON’T BY CLOTHES OR SHOES FROM AMAZON! This should protect most people. Back to brick and mortar for those items that need a fitting room.

I have not been banned yet, but reading this article has me paranoid. I do return a lot of stuff – most of the time it’s because of trying to get cheaper pricing from a third party seller and the item doesn’t match the description or doesn’t function as intended. I also cancel a lot of orders. I wonder if returns for 3rd party purchases and order cancellation get flagged in the same way.

Also, is there any easy way to print out the history of all the orders returned? I want to keep an eye out on my return ratio. Being a cheapskate, I hardly pay full retail on my items so the margins they make off me must be pretty low so I’d imagine I’m probably not as “desirable” as customer as could be.

Amazon banning a few customers (regardless of who’s at fault) just makes me not want to purchase anything from them ever again. I have been a customer since the beginning and have written numerous reviews to help other customers. To spend all that time as part of the Amazon community and know I could possibly get banned because I’m dissatisfied with 10% of my purchases in a given month (a low number considering all the damaged and defective junk I’ve received from them over the years) makes me not want to buy from them anymore. It’s hard enough taking a chance on buying something online you can’t be sure about then realizing the product has completely wasted your time (opening packages, repackaging, printing return labels, dropping to UPS, etc.), let alone having to worry that some item you’re considering will get you banned. So why take a chance at all? Mine as well buy only from Brick & Morter where items are somewhat curated. Completely defeats the purpose of buying unique products on Amazon that you can’t find locally.

“To spend all that time as part of the Amazon community and know I could possibly get banned…”

You’ve come to see, I hope, that there is no such thing as belonging to “the Amazon community.” That was an illusion. Your reviews are unpaid marketing work you do for Amazon, its vendors and manufacturers. I’m not saying they didn’t help people — they certainly helped you to feel as if you were part of something bigger than shopping. But the person they really helped most is named Bezos. The same fellow who’ll kick you to the curb if you get out of line by sending back too many defective toasters.

What Amazon’s bans do is make these illusions crumble. Under the shiny surface is a not-so-warm, not-so-communal truth. Repeat it to yourself: In business, it’s all only and always about profit,

Btw, there IS an Amazon community, after all…just not the one you imagined. It’s the network of shills, cheerleaders and liars who get free crap in exchange or writing their maniacally positive “reviews.” Check out the list of goodies endlessly fed to these Vine Voices some time. You’ll be shocked to see what they’re rolling in while you live in fear of being banned for returning your new trainers that arrived with two left shoes…

There isn’t a law mandating that any retailer offer refunds. There are laws regarding false advertising/misrepresentation/fraud (e.g. someone specified i7 processor in your laptop but you got an i3), and laws regarding honoring warranties, but that will rarely help the casual customer in “return” situation (e.g. if the processor for the laptop performs to spec, but its too slow for you, there is now law to demand the manufacturer/retailer do anything about it).

That said, Amazon is competing in an open marketplace, so instead of getting frustrated with amazon, just shop around. Most retailers are by now offering a lot of what amazon does online in the way of free shipping etc (just not 2 day shipping), and returns for most others (target is best) are much more convenient. I make a conscious decision to buy stuff i know I will be deciding to keep or not based on preference, from brick and mortar stores near me (even if I order online from them, i can return without worrying about return shipping).

Amazon has lost those sales from me (we bought a stand mixer and a tablet from others this year, specifically because of amazon’s policy if the return in due to preference and not defect). And guess what, we ended up returning both items at least once before settling with the versions we have now.

So just be a smarter shopper, you don’t have to buy everything from amazon- there is tough competition out there (good for customers :P) . If Target will agree to process a no-questions-asked, no-restocking-or-shipping-charge return for my $300 electronics, I won’t buy from amazon for $5 cheaper. And if Amazon will agree to deliver diapers to my house for 15% less than walmart, I won’t buy from walmart. I don’t feel any qualms if a retailers will loose money doing business with me, they unashamedly advertise their return policies in order to get my business so I will use their policies- I will make sure I am always honest about reasons I’m returning, and after that, take my business where its wanted.Enjoy it while it lasts.

They track multiple identifying criteria. 1. Name, 2. Address, 3. Credit Card #, 4. IP Address. I’ve even read comments from customers who moved to an address where the previous occupant must have been banned and were not allowed to place orders despite having a different name and credit card.

In the past couple of years I have returned many items to Amazon, all books, and my returns are entirely their fault. I am a book collector and buy hundreds of books annually. Used to be that Amazon sent them out in nice, sturdy boxes, well-packaged.

Now, however, their policy is to send paperbacks, including tall, skinny paperbacks that bend easily, in envelopes. I would estimate that at least a third of the books they send in envelopes arrive here bent, crushed, torn, or otherwise damaged.

I’m not talking cheap mass-market paperbacks, either, the kind you might read once and discard. I order many pricey university press titles and art books that are thin, tall, and cost $50 on up. Amazon sends these out in envelopes as if they were disposable magazines. And so when I get one that is bent-to-heck, I send it back for a replacement. And then I hope that the replacement is not also destroyed when it gets here.

My account has not been cancelled, but if it was, I would be furious. The problem is not me. It is a company that sends out expensive items with no protection at all. I feel it is my right, when I pay a lot of money for a new book, to receive one that is in good shape and not damaged. Until they can start packaging their items better and get those items to buyers in the NEW shape that they were advertised as, they can expect a lot of returns.

Thank you. My case is exactly the same. My account has not yet been banned, but it might be close to it. What I buy most on Amazon are books and comics. I dont buy cheap copies, but expensive items. The envelope they put the books in when sending them is a complete crap that damages completely the product. I wouldnt ever have consented to keep those damaged items, given the price I paid for them, but having read across the Internet that my account could get a permaban for this reason has made me keep some of those damaged items. This is insane.

Yikes! I agree that its difficult to tell what you’re getting 100% of the time from amazon.com because the listing isn’t updated, it looks different in the picture etc; and I have had more than 1 occassion where the packaging is completely inadequate I mean really sticking a coffee mug in a large box WITHOUT the orignal protective box the brand comes with no wonder it came in 2 pieces. Definately extreme for amazon to ban you though. If you bought something at Walmart, got it home and it didn’t work you’d still be able to return it with the receipt during the set time frame. Amazon should honor the same policy. This article definately has me thinking I’m going to go direct to source for products I know and trust and stick to the basic brands like Kleenex and Keurig from Amazon. Their loss, I spend $300-500 a month on there because its almost my exclusive shopping place.

I was in the same boat. I received a warning notice about the return policy but the policy doesn’t state anything, about having your returns being limited. I only returned products that were defective and not as advertised. I tend to buy expensive organic products for my hair and skin and they tend to have wonderful descriptions and a picture that makes the product look amazing but,when it arrives; it doesn’t tend to look as advertised. I remembering receiving an organic hair product that has no certification, not sealed, and actually shipped in a ziplock bag rather than being shipped with proper labeling and packaging. It was a mess to clean up and I gathered all the parts and packaged it, to ship back for the return. I honestly feel it costs the customers for returns as well, because even when they issue refunds, they tend to take forever to get back your account and you don’t get return labels on your package or a way to reseal box, so it comes out of the customer pocket to find the means, to seal and print out postage. Furthermore, clothing shopping at amazon can be a nightmare when the pictures look better than the actual item and the sizing are wrong, so you can get items that make you look like the family matters Urkel, when you were trying to get work uniforms, which happened to me. It was a disaster, and I do hope there is better process to help buyers and sellers. I found the only way to get help, if there is an issue with your account, is emailing [email protected] directly. So it is possible for customers that still want to shop at amazon, to email Jeff and explain your situation. Usually, the general amazon customer service is helpful and you tend, to get a response directly from executive team when you email Jeff and they at least send out a personal email that actually signed with a name instead, of the autogenerated email from cis amazon that makes you worry, about your account closing with a return policy that doesn’t clearly tell you, there is a return issue. I understand that some people abuse policy, but there are companies that do sell cheap, defective products, and the customers shouldn’t be held accountable for returning those defective products.

While I could understand the frustration of getting banned and also being worried of it.

However, something I read above like a 38% return rate just makes me shake my head…yes that is a high number of returns.
If I have to guess, Amazon probably thinks that you are returning products that there is nothing wrong with…also, Amazon likely checks the products you return..so if you
lie about about the return reason or product condition, or do something shady like switch product in the box, they will find out.

There certainly are some people who need to be banned. One example, I bought a $1,000 camera lense that had peanut butter or something similar on the product. Definitely, somebody bought and returned. I have had so many similar experiences with receiving returned items that were incomplete or contained the previous owner’s data (GPS) that I’m now selective on what I purchase from them. I don’t purchase anything expensive anymore. TVs come from my local retailers, and computers online from the manufacturer, same with camera lenses. There definitely are people abusing their (formerly) generous return policy. Not saying the people complaining are bad customers. Just my experience in recent years.

It sounds like a lot of the folks on here are doing comparison shopping and return the items they don’t want. The free returns is being abused whole heatedly because you folks are taking the term out of context.

I got an email like the one posted by OP. Amazon makes it seems as though your account is in the clear but not sure if I’ll still get banned if I do another return. Also, I’m afraid because my sister sends me diapers on her account in another state and I’d hate to see her banned. My mom also uses my account to send herself stuff and I’d hate to have her address blacklisted. Not sure which way to go.

Open question: does anyone ever get banned on Amazon for using their free shipping over $25? I make a lot of small orders. Amazon gotta lose money on me. But no returns, ever. Any chance to get banned for this?

Amazon free shipping had gone up to $35, and I believe recently to $49. To answer your question, I wouldn’t think so, but as a poster J Golberg posted on this page, Amazon doesn’t base their actions on my opinion. Amazon is a private company so they can do anything they want within the confines of the law of the land. There is no law preventing any retailer from banning a buyer for using excessive free shipping.

Hi, having posted about this on the MoneySavingExpert.com forums here in the UK, a lot of members there seem to agree with Amazon’s policy. Recently it has been in the news that a UK customer called Greg Nelson has been banned by Amazon. Personally I think Amazon’s stance is very harsh with regards to a ban for life and that they should try and work more with their customers before banning them. After all Amazon is supposed to be the most customer centric company on the planet. However once they ban you, it’s very difficult to get your account back. Amazon Executive Customer Relations cannot be contacted directly here in the UK by email or telephone.

I have been selling at Amazon for over 8 years. I ship average 200 packages a day mostly orthopedic products…one thing I can tell you: if you are a seller with Prime, unless you sell grocery (no return policy), you are fine. ANYTHING else , you are screwed! It is unbelievable how buyers abuse the returns at Amazon. Here a few examples :

Buyer places an order of a knee support, uses for 29 days and file return as “defective”. Basically the knee no longer needed a brace…get it?
Buyer buys a ankle brace, uses for 29 days and filed return as “not as described”…did you get it?
Buyer purchase a back support, uses for 29 days and file return as “wrong item was sent”…did you get it?

Unless you did not get what buyer abuse it, you are part of the problem. I had over 10 thousand items with Amazon Prime at their fulfillment center at end of 2014. The number of used products being returned for buyer abuse was over my profit (by the way…buyers do not know that Amazon takes average 30% fee from a seller at Prime…did you get it?). So, i removed ALL my items from Prime warehouses and fulfill myself ever since and the number of returns dropped from 25% to just under 1%. Reason: buyers pay for return cost + 20% restocking fee. When a scammer files a return as “not as described” after 29 days, I ask an image if the product…most of the times , the scammer replies “I decided to keep it”, or “I sent return request to wrong seller”, or even “I do not have a camera”.

Yes, my fellow sellers, Amazon buyer abuse will destroy your business unless you take action. DO NOT sell Prime as it is basically a charity and Amazon plays with your inventory. They do not give a f#&$ about you.

Fullfilling your sales yourself does not protect your profit as much as you say. Fullfill yourself, buyer can still file not as described claim, and receive the refund and keep your item within Amazon allowed threshold. Fullfill with Amazon, and the most user can do is return so you’ll at least get your item back. If you encountered so many returns, you would want to increase the quality check on your inventory, or do not sell at all.

Actually, his reports suggest that Amazon Prime shoppers are abusive on the policies. I have Prime and I shop a particular way. As soon as this seller took his merchandise out of FBA his products practically became invisible to Prime account holders. I know for a fact that I only shop for Prime items so I don’t have to pay shipping. So do many other prime members. Since his product no longer has the “Prime” icon, I would ignore it because it’s not fulfilled by Amazon. Apparently so did all the other prime users since his returns went from 25% all the way down to 1%. Aside from that one change, everything else you mentioned still applies and yet the only real change the seller experienced was a decrease in abuse, not a continuation.

Your returns may have went down but I absolutely guarantee you so did your sales!!! As I wrote in another post I never ever ever buy from third-party I ONLY buy things that are sold and fulfilled by Amazon for the exact reason that you are talking about, all third-party sellers make it very difficult for you to return something!

You’re not doing ANYTHING different than any other company out there my friend including retail stores. Walmart? Has a 90 day return policy. Some stores have a NO limit return policy, meaning two years later you can return it if our you have the receipt!

That’s how you generate sales and you seem to want to have your cake and eat it too. You want to be a retailer, but you don’t want to deal with the returns and they go hand-in-hand!!!!

People like you expecting to “try before you buy” and return whatever you want for whatever reason cause no end of problems for sellers. I sell on Amazon and every frivolous refund costs us money and negatively impacts our seller metrics. Even if you return the item (which many customers don’t) Amazon still charges us the processing and restocking fees. The only reason Amazon has its no questions asked refund policy is that all of the costs are passed on to sellers. I am surprised Amazon banned you as they get their cut no matter and usually don’t care.

Time to sue Amazon. Prime member pay for Amazons return policy. Amazon’s canceling a paid account because members return items according to Amazon’s policy is breach of contract, and a violation of state consumer protection acts. TIME FOR CLASS ACTION AMAZON!

Well said, Scott! Please keep posting this over and over again so that Amazon employees who come to these websites to scare people into not returning items they have a right to return will get the message!

1 pair of sneakers: uncomfortable
1 pair of track pants: too small (did not order next size up as didn’t like the style either)
1 Cell phone: Got a blackberry device a few years back, and then decided it was a bad idea.
Exchanged at television: Got a Sony flat-screen for about 3k, Exchanged it for another one that was more expensive and paid the difference AND paid for shipping.

Bought and kept hundreds of other stuff during about 4 years, including having Prime membership for the last 2 years.

Honetly, being banned from Amazon was a blessing. Reason being, I had gotten too used to sitting at home reading review after review, doing research etc etc.. and then for the returns re-packaging, going to the UPS store, waiting for a refund, etc. Now, I GET OUT OF THE HOUSE and actually go and see the products, hold them, inspect them, wear them and THEN decide to buy. The stuff I buy from brick and mortar stores I don’t really return because I got a chance to experience before buying. Amazon and other online-only retailers forgo the expense of having a chain of stores and personnel to manage those stores and all the other expenses that go along with it. Sure, they have their own expenses, but they can’t expect a 10% return rate for items the customer has never touched or experienced. That is ridiculous. You can’t have your cake and eat it too. They actually expect us to go to a brick and mortar store experience the products, be 90% sure we want it and then come home and order it? BS.

You abused their system. You were not banned for the return of 3 items, get real. 10% return rate is ridiculous. I get by on a 0% return because I shop responsibly. You’re the one that wants your cake and eat it too. So the Amazon ban forced you to shop the way people had been doing for years before the internet. Some people shouldn’t be shopping online in the first place….

My husband and I were banned because our adult daughter who lives with us did too many returns. I called amazon to explain the situation and they were supposed to have someone call me back. Instead they sent a standard email response not addressing our issue at all. My husband and I have never returned anything purchased through Amazon. The irony is that our daughter will one day move out and be able to purchase on Amazon again but my husband and I may never be able to purchase from them again.

No, your daughters ban will follow her too. Amazon is very good at security on their site. They’ll link her via bank account, email address, ip addresa and/or mac address amongst other things such as proximity to original IP address, they are very good at what they do. At least you weren’t a seller, your daughters ban would have affected your seller account also and an Amazon seller account is practically a money press if you have the right merchandise.

I’m in, let’s sue the bastards. Amazon is nothing , but a bully of the highest degree. If I returned too many things at Best Buy they would simply tell me that I cannot return that particular item anymore; they wouldn’t put armed guards at every Best Buy on the planet and not let me into the store. I accept that a probation period might be necessary to discourage excessive returns, but an all out lifetime ban is the most retarded thing I have ever heard. Also, Amazon is starting to open retail stores. Does that mean I cannot shop there either? Maybe that’s where the armed guards will be…hmmmm

It’s unbelievable how many d-bags defend Amazon. Basically you go on for years and establish a pattern and habit of returning things, and sometimes you’re cursed with broken stuff. Suddenly, sometimes with an ultimatum letter and sometimes with no warning, they lock you out forever. It’s pure nastiness. First, if you ever return something for an exact replacement (e.g. a defect), it shouldnever NEVER count against you. Amazon is absolutely responsible for the item until it is literally in your hands. Second, sizing mistakes happen. If you buy apparel and it doesn’t fit then it doesn’t fit. Third, it shouldn’t be that you get an ultimatum warning letter and the very next return causes your account to be cancelled (and for some people no warning at all). Instead everybody should have a return-o-meter indicator on their account that constantly gives you a feel for whether Amazon finds your returns excessive.

Order ID 404-1516886-8216308:
1 of KuberBox Lacey 18k Yellow Gold and Diamond Ring [ASIN: B016DK4JSO]
16 June Received by empty box Seller Empty box provide 16 June delivery boy on time but amazon team my amount not Refund 10885
and very bad respond amazon team

I had a similar experience with eBay a couple of years ago. I was one of the first members there, been there for 16 years, fine buyer and seller. A customer decided to lie about an item I sold him and eBay took him at his word without talking to me, no warning, just suddenly cut off from eBay, an indefinite ban on selling. To people saying just sell somewhere else, eBay has a practical monopoly on online auctions, other online auction sites have maybe 5% the traffic and lots of unsold items.

Amazon seems to have a similar mindset, they have a practical monopoly in online retail so they can do whatever they want, it’s unfortunate, but the rest of the customers don’t care or even defend them, so they can keep doing it.

The simple solution to this all is to stop shopping at Amazon altogether. This is what I have done. I used to buy everything from Amazon but not anymore. Amazon have got too big for their boots and the less people that buy from Amazon the more it will hit their profits. There has been a recent case in the press with regards to a lady that got banned in the US. After contacting the press with regards to this her account was reinstated. Her argument was thar nowhere in Amazon’s terms and conditions does it say anything about a returns limit and a potential ban because of this. Amazon need to make their returns policy a lot more clearer especially when it comes to what the acceptable returns limit is. With Amazon’s shoddy packaging of items and couriers handling Amazon’s items poorly it’s not that difficult to reach a 10% returns rate. Add to the facts that there are reports on the web with regards to Amazon sending out items that are used as new and you will find that there is no point shopping with Amazon. Final point to add is do I miss shopping at Amazon? No I don’t. I just prefer to give my hard earned money to other retailers, especially brick and mortar shops who know how to treat their customers fairly.

Hi,
Im a french guy and i have the same story. 4 years client of amazon, 200 articles and many return. Amazon close my account and i dont know how to have the garanty of my article. I understand for the abuse, but when you buy on internet it is not a science exact
Im very hungry.

Most, if not all (excluding Amazon), will ban customers for life only in case of shoplifting or any fraudulent activity that breaks law. They do not ban customers for exceeding 10% return limit. They will simply refuse the return. This kind of permanent lifetime ban will eventually eat into Amazon’s profit. I think Amazon’s upper management needs to rethink this kind of all out lifetime ban which can also get friends and family members permanently banned who you send gifts to. Temporary ban will be justified in some cases after a warning or two, but all out life time ban with no warning that also permanently bans your friends and family members is simply too excessive. Permanent life time ban can be justified after a few incrementally longer temporary bans without banning families and friends living at different address.

Yes, what Amazon does is not fair considering other outlets will ban your returns only for a year. You can still shop there, but no returns. BB is one of them.
The funny thing is that being banned does not mean you can’t shop there anymore. There are always many legit ways of doing so.

The risk of keeping a no-return customer on Amazon is great. You could, for instance, give negative reviews on every single product and seller. If everyone accused of abusing returns is still allowed to use the website, it could really mess with the ratings of products and sellers.

Advice Needed Please: I went a little crazy during Amazon’s last Prime day event on July 12, 2016, and ordered too many products. This of course meant that I had to return many items, mainly because they arrived broken, scratched, received the wrong item, or the description on the site was not accurate. Also, the way items were packaged was absolutely horrible with many product boxes being torn, ripped and dirty. Product boxes were dirty, torn and even practically destroyed. Many of these items were supposed to be future Christmas gifts (I shop all year for Xmas gifts for my large family who live out of state) but since I can’t give a gift in a dirty, torn box they were returned. As a Prime Member for many years I never worried about returns..mainly because I rarely did any..but after July 12’s Prime Day..I was returning almost everything I bought for the reasons given above. And then I got this email the other day:
—
Hello,
We have noticed that an unusual number of your recent orders have been returned.
Since our mission is to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, we want to make sure you are happy with your Amazon shopping experience. If we are not living up to our promise, please reply to this email and let us know what we can do to improve.
To speak with a member of our Customer Service team, call 1 (866) 216-1072 or click the Contact Us button on any Amazon.com Help page.

While we welcome returns when orders do not work out, we want to do whatever we can to ensure that you are happy with your Amazon shopping experience.

We look forward to seeing you again soon.
Sincerely,
Account Specialist
—

What makes this bad is that I am still receiving damaged merchandise that I know I will have to return: Electronics whose boxes are torn up. Clothing in the wrong size with stains and tears on them. Wrong shoes received. Wrong cosmetics received.
It’s as if everything went to hell after that Prime Day Event..and I now deeply regret buying during and after this time because obviously the Amazon employees are being rushed and they are making mistakes.

Why am I worried about being banned? Because I am disabled and home bound. I cannot drive due to my disability..and even if I could drive I could never buy all of these products locally because I live in a rural area with no big stores around. And no one to take me shopping. I depend on Amazon Prime not only for my products..but for my pets food & supplements as well. And having them delivered to my door and picked up by UPS is a blessing to me that I gladly pay my Prime Membership for.
I am afraid of even answering that email for fear I will only anger someone and hasten my ban. And since I need to return the aforementioned products..I am also positive the ban will happen. Which greatly saddens me because I love shopping on Amazon for myself, family and pets due to being disabled and stuck at home.

If I do get banned..I would appreciate anyone telling me how to get around this. Being disabled and not being able to drive with no help from anyone makes this a very bad situation for me. Here is my email address for any advice dealing with this. Just remove the **** in the email address and put all the words together: Skincare69****@gmail.com

Sometimes you have to choose your battles. By that I mean, be more selective about what you buy and from whom. And sometimes you just can’t always get what you want. I’m in the same position you are (needing to order most everything online) but I diligently read reviews and make choices based on what other users experience. For example, I only buy larger items such as furniture or appliances locally, even if I have to pay a little more which insures they get here in one piece and if not, having the option to deal with a local merchant to resolve problems. I research, research, research and use different vendors appropriately based on price, reliability and good reviews. I have spent thousands upon thousands over the years and have returned so few items, it’s hardly worth mentioning. So then, seems my process is working well.

Hi Terri,
Thanks for your kind reply. I did indeed do my research..but as I mentioned..most of the problems dealt with torn, dirty and opened packaging..which meant I could not give these items as gifts. However..Amazon never banned me..and now I only order items for myself..so that if the packaging is in bad condition it doesn’t matter. I will never order gifts from Amazon again over this issue..so now I am just giving gift cards to people..which I hate because it costs me more..but that’s life. This way..I can save up my returns for really necessary things. Happy Holidays to you and yours.

“I went a little crazy during Amazon’s last Prime day event on July 12, 2016, and ordered too many products”

Then you go on to list all these errors made by Amazon and have absolutely no mention of Remorse purchases. Bullshit, you overbought and are unwilling to take responsibility for your actions. You must be american like most of us.

If they ban your account, you can go to google and look up Amazon Stealth Accounts. You’ll have to lie to get back on but you had no problem lying when you told your nonesense story hear, employ those same tactics and get a stealth account if you’re banned.

Have you thought about revisiting your buying process and maybe perform some research on the product or read a few reviews before you make your purchase? You appear to be in a very tiny percentage of people receiving “trash” from Amazon.

Of course he has not even considered changing his buying process. He has however taken it upon himself to research how to get back on Amazon after being banned, He learned it is difficult and that they actually cross their T’s and Dot their I’s when it comes to their competency. As a result he had to actually purchase a stealth account with fake info to circumvent the block so he could continue buying from this terrible retailer. Someone who really was burned by receiving so much “trash” would not be in a hurry to get back on that same system.

For me the problem is limited edition games and artbooks. No matter how many times I return items and complain, Amazon insists on sending them in those flimsy bubble envelopes that provide no protection against items getting dented or crushed.

I know why this happens. It’s because the people who work in Amazon’s warehouses get penalized if they don’t fill a certain number of orders every hour. This quota is set unrealistically high, so they barely have enough time to find the item and shove it in a bubble mailer… let alone actually unfolding a cardboard box, taping one side shut, placing the item carefully inside and then surrounding it with adequate packing material. So in the unlikely event that you do get a box it’s probably got one air cushion in it at best, which does nothing to prevent the contents from rattling around. I miss the days when every order I received from Amazon came in a box, with the items inside shrinkwrapped onto a cardboard backing that held them in place. (Been a buyer since 1995.)

J. Goldberg, though he consistently says it in the most assish way imaginable, is not wrong. It’s Amazon’s site and they can choose to refuse service if they want to. Best advice would be to limit returns as much as possible. Don’t buy something if you’re not positive you’ll want to keep it. This means never buy clothes, shoes, anything you need to try on before you know if it’ll fit you. Same goes for anything you’re overly concerned might be damaged in transit.

Me? I’m at the point where I’m out of craps to give. Normally after one or two damaged copies of an item I’ll just get a refund from Amazon, spend a little more and buy it elsewhere. But this time I’m playing chicken with them and I’m not swerving first. Either I get the item undamaged, or I exhaust my allotted returns limit and they ban me. In the event of the latter, I’m saving off my complete order history and will post the dollar amounts so everyone can have that information. (I’m OCD like that. Also explains why I like my limited edition stuff in mint condition.)

eBay pissed me off almost 10 years ago and I’ve lived without them ever since. I know I can live without Amazon too. As can we all.

Eventually your credit card provider will start to side with the seller on your chargeback claims as well. Thieves fit a predictable pattern- especially in the digital age- this is not lost on Amex or MasteCard either..

Being OCD AND a collector… Considering how often Amazon sends damaged merchandise, why not just stop using them before getting banned and finding a merchant that gives a little more care to the packaging of your collector items? You already know Amazon will not be doing anything to make the packaging any better since their focus is on speed and efficiency.

I’d get sick of having to send things back and if I had OCD not being able to do that would drive me crazy.

After Amazon ultimately sent me an undamaged copy of the item referenced above, I did just that. I now pre-order all of my limited editions through my local game retailer, where I can inspect the condition of the boxes before I buy them. Once Amazon started charging sales tax, and once my discounted Prime membership expired, there was no longer any financial advantage to buying from them. I still get Amazon gift cards as a credit card reward, but I only use them to buy items whose condition isn’t that important to me.

The reason I stuck it out for so long was because I thought repeatedly complaining to Amazon about the quality of their packaging (and reminding them of how excellent it used to be) would get them to realize they were losing business. But along the way I discovered that I am in the minority – Most people don’t care enough to complain and exchange. So Amazon actually makes more money by using inadequate packaging resulting in (cosmetically) damaged merchandise. What a world we live in.

I recently came into a litttle money so I decided to get prime and indulge myself with some of the electronic items on my wish list. I didnt know at the time that amazon is populated with chineese sellers that sell fake crap brand name stuff that amazon should be ashamed of having on their site. Is there no quality control measures with them? One of the items I bought was a zmodo security system with good reviews. I researched for a week before choosing that. It actually arrived with cameras and no dvr box to connect cameras to. After waiting another 10 days for the seller to ship it to me, I plugged it in and worked for 2 hours then stopped.
Another item was speakers that I couldn’t plug in because the usb plug was smashed when I took it out of the box. A matecam that I ordered was supposed to be in a shipment that was delivered in a box with other stuff only there was no matecam in the box. Oh, and also ordered 10 grow lights for some succulent plants that I can’t keep outside in my new area that I live now, 2 of the lights don’t work at all. That is just four of the things I ordered that by Amazon’s policies would make me seem suspicious or costly customer, but in actuallity they are just not doing any due dilllegence to ensure that their customers aren’t getting ripped off.
I have come to some conclusions after reading these postings here. Don’t buy any electronics from amazon because even though it might say a major brand name like panasonic batteries for example, it probably is a knockoff from a chineese company that is selling garbage in a a new wrapper. Don’t buy shoes because unlike clothing, they cost too much to eat the price if they are sized wrong. Buy shoes from someone like Zappos, free returns if they dont fit, no questions. The single and only reason I shopped amazon for those items is because I thought it was safe to do so. Knowing now that it really is not in case you want to keep your account active for other purchases, I will be looking to other retailers for those things from now on.

Hahaha, whatever man. First of all Zappos is owned by Amazon. Here’s how you avoid the bad electronics. Don’t shop by lowest price! That’s exactly what you are doing and you know it. The lowest price is ALWAYS from China. When the price looks so low that it makes YOU want to buy, know that your decision making is flawed since you base it on absolute lowest price.

I.E. Pay what an item is worth and you’ll get that item. If you buy an item that is far below market value which you know you have been doing, you’re going to get that china Junk.

For example, buy directly from Amazon and not a 3rd party seller that is selling the same catalog item for far less than Amazon. Oh and feedback is there for a reason, review it.

What about electronic books? Is it abuse if you frequently return them cause you don’t like them. I read ALOT and 3/4 4the reviews are not helpful enough or they rave about book and it’s crap. So I purchase then if I don’t like I return. Why is this a problem?

This is no way relation to the original post but something we see happen frequently.

As and amazon seller

We often get buyers who are completely unreasonable and want refund for no good reason.
We of course deny these types of trouble makers, however this can lead to an A to Z claim, which we will win.

This is where it may lead to a buyer being banned.
Amazon may choose to refund the fraudulent buyer out of its own pocket to keep the peace, and give them another chance.
As the Buyer has been refunded they may not know that they actually lost the A to Z case behind the scenes.

So the Buyer thinks they got away with it and they continue repeating this process.
The Buyer goes and does this once again and goes to sleep on dreams of free money earn’t embellished and arrogant story telling, only to wake up and find their account has been banned.

This i would imagine is one of the largest reason for Amazon buyer bans.

I’ve been buying stuff from amazon since 1999 according to their list of old orders. I wish they listed the total number of orders and amount spent, but I estimate I spent in the tens of thousands with them. I never heard from them about returns until a couple years ago when I returned 6 items (clothing/shoes) within a couple weeks. I ordered a few more items of clothing/shoes since they explicitly advertised free returns on those items. I received an email warning about excessive returns. I didn’t reply and I never heard from them again.

As an Amazon merchant who constantly loses money to scammers gaming the return policy I cannot tell you how utterly enjoyable it is to read stories about dirtbags getting the Amazon ban-hammer. WHACK! Oh it does my heart good to hear your sniveling excuses and whiny complaints and how Amazon crushed your thieving schemes. Your tears are like sweet nectar of the gods–they taste so magically delicious! I hope all of you who delighted in getting something free at the expense of someone else suffer daily in the knowledge that you have been found out, exposed and summarily kicked the hell out from Amazon for life. Oh and by the way…thanks for shopping on Amazon! LOL :D

I think the key phrase here is “false sense of security.” It seems as if most of the people complaining about being banned feel they are entitled to return their merchandise at will, because they are Prime members. That is NOT the purpose of being a Prime member and it sounds like abuse to me. They get lazy about researching the products they want to buy because, after all – they can just go ahead and return them. How convenient for the buyer. It’s not good for business and people who abuse their membership should indeed, be banned.

First off, I don’t work for Amazon, but I do shop there quite a bit.
I know people who admittedly returned their laptops every 9 months to Costco until they changed their policy. It’s beyond me how can some of you believe it’s your human right to abuse a friendly business policy and expect the business not to do anything about it. Guess what, Amazon as a business also has the right to choose their target customer base.
Also some of threatening Amazon to shop elsewhere due to this. Please do! I can already see Amazon’s stock dropping and Jeff Bezos crying himself to bed every night over the loss of all the precious customers.

I read a lot of comments and couldn’t figure out if returns are on products which come with seller warranty. As in not sold by Amazon. If one writes to seller directly about a defective product and they issue refund. Does that count against you as well?

Also of one is grandfathered in – had my account for 10 yrs and my sister is part of my account (though different address). If she does a lot of returns I am assuming that would count against my account as well. Anyone in similar situation?

I have not been banned yet, but agree with bringing lawsuits against these companies doing this. The shopping channels on tv are also guilty of this. The lie through their teeth to sell products then ban people who return them due to the lies.

A company has a right to ban a person from their business if they believe they are abusing policy. What is the law going to do? Dictate how they write their contracts? The TOS explains that there will be a ban for abuse of the policy and they won’t reveal that exact figure because if they did, people like you find on this response form would use the information to their advantage, you know…. Abuse the return policy to just below the threshold of being banned. MANY companies have policies like this in place.

Infomercials won’t take returns? They ALL use the money back guarantee moniker because they know damn well that the majority of people are too lazy to return the items once they get them. What Infomercial companies refused to allow you to return their junk?

For all of you making excuses for AMZ, my last order was to be delivered to a locker. When it didn’t arrive, the delivery status was “refused by recipient”. I did not know a locker could refuse delivery. But AMZ insisted it was all my problem and denied my refund and took back the products, even though I never had possession of them. Two days later, they admitted the carrier used the wrong delivery code. The package was actually damaged and returned to AMZ. But they’re still denying my refund until they receive the products, as if I had some control over their getting them back. I will buy whatever I can from now on from local retail outlets, pay a few more dollars and know that I can return them, no questions asked. Amazon does too many things, and not many of them very well.

This is not new or unique to Amazon. Many companies will ban customers from returning items if they return to many items.
My ex wife purchased items from Macy’s and would return half of them the next week (she was a serial shopper). Macy’s, after about 2-years, banned her from returning any future items.

So if this is all based on if Amazon is making money or not, can anyone then provide some input on if it would be better to return items and NOT have Amazon pay for the shipping? As in choosing order created my mistake and the others that will not provide free return shipping?

Obviously there is still restocking costs involved, but it might not trigger the system to flag the account?

It is just impossible to avoid returning some goods when shopping online, however getting a lifetime ban is something I would like to avoid at any cost.

Rules out me buying a lot of stuff on Amazon going forward though. Shame they have not takes less Marfia methods in use instead, such as more and clear stating warnings and removing the free option to return for free / add a fee.

“So if this is all based on if Amazon is making money or not, can anyone then provide some input on if it would be better to return items and NOT have Amazon pay for the shipping? As in choosing order created my mistake and the others that will not provide free return shipping?”

This statement suggest that you know you’ve been using the wrong reasons so you don’t have to pay return shipping thereby shafting the seller and only when the threat of losing the Amazon buying account you decide you should start doing things the right way.

This behavior is terrible and prevalent in today’s society here in the USA. We’ve done a disservice to the young generation, we’ve created a nation of self entitled brats that are incapable of taking any form of responsibility whatsoever.

It seems that the US is unlucky for Amazon. Here in the UK I can return around 2-8 a month. Some that didn’t work as intended which Amazon paid postage for and some that are unwanted which I paid for the postage back. I have received no warnings either.

I have read all the comments on here from both sides. As a buyer, I don’t like their shady way of treating some customers that they deemed serial returners. What I don’t agree is that if they don’t like people to return items too often, freaking put this on their policy! Say something in black and white, so we know what to expect. How would we know when to draw the line if it’s not clearly stated? Frankly, if it’s not on Terms and policy, it’s not valid. I get that people abuse the return policy, but if there is a policy against this, this should protect both the sellers and the buyers. Right? Frankly, I’m glad I stumbled on this website, now I know I’ll buy less from Amazon, so I won’t have to deal with potential of being banned.

Who do Americans need to return so many items? Reading this it seems normal to them to return 10-15% of stuff or even more.

I am an Amazon buyer for 7 years and I have yet to return one thing. Don’t you think before you buy? (I understand if the stuff is broken, but everything I get is well packed, little chance of something going wrong)
Buying online is not like taking something off the shelf and putting it back if you don’t like it. It seems to me that people are spoiled.

Amazon has been nothing but great to me. I just ‘learned’ of this accounts being banned due to abuse of the return system. Not from me getting banned or a letter / warning/email etc.. but just randomly running across it on the internet and then looked into it as I couldn’t see why accounts would be banned from such a site. Though it makes sense obviously — Amazon has the best Customer Service in the world,.. hands down imho,.. they have a return/refund policy second to none,.. they can afford to have these two incredible systems because they are so large and make so much money.
So I buy A LOT from Amazon on a regular basis. I’d have to go look at a spreadsheet generated from Amazon (they do that if you didn’t know ) for a date range to get an average but I’d say $500-$1000 a month ish just depends. I’ve returned 2 or 3 items in the last year — so I assume that’s a good ratio? I see people returning 1/10th or 1/8th of their items purchased every month.. I can see that being suspicious. Amazon can obviously be used as a ‘rental’ service for anything you need but that is put in check with the ban system after so many months of this activity. What is rough is it looks like they ban the address which hits you hard.. Unless you want to make some account to another address it is going to be tough to buy from them again and that becomes inconvenient,.. and the convenience of Amazon is a huge factor in why people use them.

Anyhow — I assume Amazon values me as a customer (Been a prime customer for a decade now.. started in 2007) as I just purchased a set of items that all go together quite obviously as a set / work together/attach — for $29X plus tax which brought it to $315 total. In the past 3 months or so Amazon had gotten into the habit of having every few orders be late .. not arriving on time. I had one order I purposefully overnighted (prime 2 day was wasted for overnight of course) — and it not only didn’t arrive the next day but arrived 6 days later! It was marked as a ground shipping as well.. That one got returned — Then some other items were 1-2 days off and I need most of what I order by the day I order it , often for work etc. Anyhow — I mentioned the above as I saw one of the major components of the $300 order was going to be late.. Again. Sigh.. I was nice,.. short to the point (not like this comment) — and the Representative apologized profusely for the recent activity and as a ‘gesture’ from Amazon they refunded the entire order .. ie: I keep the items and it’s at no charge due to their recent multiple issues.
I was shocked. I expected maybe something, extension of prime .. etc — But not that, not on an order that expensive. While that scenario at that amount must be rare — I think it’s fairly common for smaller orders.. $5, $10, $15, $20 ish to be refunded with no return required — Especially orders that would just be even or cost Amazon money with shipping back. Just thought I’d share my experience with Amazon – and honestly, it probably just came down to the Representative I got — if another one handled the case things probably would have been different. Either way, I’ve always been blown away with Amazon’s Customer Service. I think it’s so good because Amazon allows their reps to have A LOT of free will / leeway with what they can do for the customer. It’s up to their judgement to refund, partial refund, gift card, gift prime months, (insert 100 other options) depending on what is going on and probably the history of the customers orders (and returns if that’s even a factor). Prime customer who orders a lot from small purchase amounts to large with few returns.. seems like the tip top of what they want to keep “ideal”. Only thing more ideal may be the rich customer who does the same but with say hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to them — That said, I wonder if they’d rather have people like me than the person who buys less items , way less, but at MUCH higher prices. Shrug, I guess it’s whatever the overall demographic profit margin is.

The level of work I have to do. Paying business rates. Paying rent. Paying council tax. Paying insurance. Paying suppliers. Paying amazon fees and tax on amazon’s fees. Paying customs fees when neccesary. Paying for postage. And if I make a profit. Paying tax on that. The work I put into managing orders. Sometimes working 18 hours a day. Going the extra mile on orders when things go wrong. I’ve edited my post to keep it short. The next five days I have to make a decison. Am I going to pay my rent. Or am I going to eat. I’ve paid off every other bill. Paid off every other business expense. I had 5 returns 1 “No Longer Needed” 2 “Accidental Order” 3 “No Longer Needed” 4 “Accidental Order” 5 “No Longer Needed” All returned: 1. Used. 2. Used. 3. Very Heavily Used. 4. Used. 5 Returned In Good Condition. Spending money to serve buyers who want a free item experience (paid for by me) is killing me. You were hurting a lot of honest, hard working people returning so many items.

@jane , I don’t like seeing the small business owner getting the short end of the stick.Seriously hope Amazon improves its algorithms as buyers need to better justify their returns. The explanations you’ve shared aren’t due to an obvious 2 reasons: not as described , or defective. There has to be accountability,and transparency on both sides of the Amazon transaction.

I have made 18 purchases in the last six months, mostly Amazon prime, and have returned two items in the last month. After reading this, I’m afraid to return one more thing. The first thing that I returned was a camera because it didn’t focus as clearly as I wanted to while recording, so I purchased a different one instead. The second item was studio lights that I purchased that were deceiving when I purchased them because I thought they would be quite a bit larger but they were tiny and not usable for what I needed them for. The third item that I want to return is a laser printer that does not work. When I turn it on, it just continues to roll the drum. I’m a little scared of returning it now.

I am also interested in finding out from “banned” people if they had many returns where they marked “changed their mind” (and therefore paid the return shipping themselves). And also if they primarily buy new or used from the warehouse. I’ve had an enormous number of returns this past year, and now I’m nervous! I have a mix of everything, but more often than not it was a defective item.

I’m getting sick of buying USED ITEMS. My last two purchases have been bought BRAND NEW from amazon, yet they were obviously USED. Amazon is selling used items as new. I can’t wait for my account to be banned because I’m returning items that were previously used and I paid full price expecting a brand new unopened item.. Amazon is seriously crooked now.

See I just don’t believe you. I’m sorry I just don’t. Why? I’m a big buyer from Amazon. In fact I was told today when I had an issue with something I bought many years ago that I have placed 1348 orders in the last five years. The first two years I was not even a big buyer and did maybe hundred orders a year.

But the last three years I averaged 350 to 400 ORDERS per year. You have to realize that each order can contain anywhere from 1 to 50 different items (Prime Pantry).

So it’s safe to say that I have ordered tens of thousands of items from Amazon in the last five years. Maybe ONCE I received tsomething that looked like it had been used and returned and Amazon sent it to me.

So I find it very hard to swallow that I have ordered tens of thousands of items and have never had that problem and you as a very small buyer, buy two things and they both look used, and that’s not even your first experience it has happened to you many many times???

Maybe you are too particular, maybe you’re subconsciously looking for a reason to return it, maybe you have convinced yourself it’s going to be used and you’re going out of your way to look for signs, I don’t know with the explanation is.

I just know that statistically I don’t see how that’s possible.

I absolutely agree with Chris Tomlin (Christian singer?) Amazon rocks and has the best return policy in the world and nobody can possibly dispute that!!! They offer world-class customer service and they have done things for me that absolutely amaze me.

Now I have had MANY more returns than Chris has had and they still go out of the way to do things for me that are well above and beyond and I have absolutely no complaints on “their” return policy.

I can however complain that why on earth they allow third-party sellers to dictate their own return terms make so sense to me. Amazon is king and it would be simple to me I would say do you want to sell on Amazon? Then you have to offer the exact same return policy. I’ve had some third-party sellers really stick it up my butt…

And to all third party sellers? That is specifically, precisely, EXACTLY why I rarely, I mean seldom if ever, order anything other than sold and filled by Amazon! Because I know that for absolutely any reason they’re going to cheerfully have UPS drive up to my front door and pick up my return and give me a refund on it no questions asked.

I have had some Amazon purchase challenges lately,and decided to look for a reason. Found this article,and the comments. THANKS to techwalls for not deleting them,or closing comments. I recently received an Amazon” high return” notice from an account specialist, without prior notice.The only action the notice asked for was for me to communicate my issues with Amazon. I have,and the China vendors are a focus of my communications. I asked Amazon to require sellers include a China (shipping) disclosure within an items description* Amazon should tighten their policy with the market place vendors by banning them. Given a current situation,Amazon doesn’t appear to ban vendor’s as easily as they do buyers. Amazon doesn’t want to lose ANY money,which includes the administrative hassle for returns/refunds. Amazon can do whatever it wants​ at this time given their surging profits,but customer protection should matter. In 2016,I had to return 2, ~$1000 technology items within a 2 month period because they failed. I took pictures, and was fortunate my purchase period was during the seasonal temperatures where the failure would occur. This was contrary to the manufacturer/vendor’s product certification claims. Otherwise it would have been more difficult to prove I didn’t contribute to the item failing as the vendor already stated they looked for this in their assessment of my return. Amazon was forced to crack down on charging cable vendors when CNET(?) wrote about non compliant cables sold on Amazon frying people’s devices. Hopefully the FTC will bring in laws to better regulate e-commerce because it’s only getting more profitable,and not going away. As a long time Costco Member,I am sure they use algorithms to determine problematic members. Suspect the 90 day electronics return limit is a result of abuse of Costco’s (generous) return policy.At least Costco is being transparent. They’re not arbitrarily refusing to refund,or banning members.

They should ban people that abuse returns. It is ridiculous that companies have to offer returns for damn near eternity just to get a sale. Our society is terrible. My friend bought a bike from Nashbar that has an unlimited return policy. He can return the bike after 5 years if he wanted to allegedly. This type of return policy creates this in him: He is using the bike as leverage. He was between jobs and was considering sending the bike back to get the money back because of their ridiculous return policy. His financial situation was the dictator of his actions, nothing within the companies control. What really pisses me off about these liberal return policies is that only corporations can offer this shit. Small sellers will fall by the wayside because entitled buyers will want unlimited returns that they will surely abuse. This behavior drives costs up through the roof. Someone ends up paying for all this transit back and forth because people can’t get off their fat asses and go to a local store to try something on, why bother? Ecommerce offers return shipping on the dime of all the other buyers on the site.

Seems like lately every 2nd or 3rd item I order arrives either in less than “new” condition, or is missing parts! How does one install a “new” faucet when the mounting nut and bracket are missing from the packaging? Would you accept a laser printer that is supposed to be new and packaging tape and bags are torn or missing? Not FAIR to sell stuff as “new” when it has been previously opened and used. NOT FAIR.

One issue that crops up with me that I haven’t seen mentioned here is problems that occur in shipping.

Amazon now sells a lot of “grocery” type items- not just their “Amazon Fresh” line, but things like “Prime Pantry” and whatnot where you are ordering things like soap, shampoo, laundry detergent, non-alcoholic beverages, cereals, and so on and so forth. Wal-Mart’s website of course has even more of those type of products.

If you order a lot of them, and your local USPS delivery person, or someone in the chain from Amazon’s warehouse through the various shipping ports and trucks to the final destination, is careless, anything liquid may leak and ruin most of your order. In my area, Wal-Mart is much worse with this than Amazon, because Wal-Mart uses FedEx, which is the pits- they basically half throw things at the door to a loud thud and you get to it and the wrong side is up, etc.. But USPS has their share of these types of incidents, too.

That’s where a lot of my returns come in- not that I didn’t want it or the item wasn’t as described, that prior to it’s arrival at my place, one items leaked all over the others and make them unusable, and I need replacement shipments (Which, to be fair, are usually sent free of charge, but I’d imagine it counts against me in the return policy thing, and it’s a hassle).

I know in the case of Wal-Mart, I asked them to try a different carrier, and they declined.

I haven’t been banned from anything, but the day may come. To me, it’s the seller’s obligation to get the product in my hands in good condition. If they ban me, screw ’em. I’m not going to accept usable merchandise like corn flakes soaked in laundry detergent. Replace or refund, you know?

I really think these large companies should think about switching local carriers when they get enough of these complaints, or even working jointly to identify individual package carriers who’s deliveries generate a large number of damaged products and fire them or put them through extra training and probationary period or something.

I could definitely see someone like me getting banned and the issue just being the packages are handled poorly and that ruins the merchandise, and not being some sort of desire on the orderers part to use a site to try before they really buy or anything of that nature.

Just curious, for those of you who were banned (or sent a warning email) do you live in the USA?

It seems like the majority of people (at least in the past forums/articles that I’ve read) where people have been banned are located in the UK/overseas.

Also, do you think it helps to return items all at once together or just return right away when you know something is faulty?

Example: I ordered two jerseys (shipped and sold by Amazon with free returns)… it is clear one of them is a factory defect as they are both the same size, but one is significantly smaller than the other. Should I hold on to it and wait until it is close to the 30 day return window being up and then return it just in case there is something else I order that arrives bad/doesn’t fit/etc. within the next 30 days and return them together? Or should I just go ahead and return it. (i.e. will it really matter? since it will be “2 orders” being returned?)

While I would like to return it right away (and get my money back) — I definitely don’t want to be banned over stupid crap adding up so if I should wait, I’ll do it.

Finally- do you think your “return reason” really matters? I’ve already returned two items in the past 3 months simply due to the price dropping on Amazon within days after my order — and since Amazon got rid of price matching/adjustments… I had to return, they paid for the return shipping (“free returns” once again), and then I re-ordered at the better price. It seems SO stupid to me that Amazon does not adjust prices, at least within a week of purchase….

Good, glad you got banned, I am both a seller and buyer on amazon and customers like you make sellers lives hell, In my 3 years buying on amazon I have purchased probably 200+ items and returned maybe 3 of those items. Your return rate is nearly 1 out of every 5 items you buy which is completely ridiculous, start doing a little research on the items you are buying instead using amazon as a try before you buy rental service and costing sellers money because of your laziness and ignorance.

To those who take Amazon’s side – two points:
1. You would be correct IF Amazon had sold high quality U.S. made merchandise.
However, 99.9% of the stuff they sell is pure Chinese cheap junk, with very questionable quality.
So yeah Amazon – I reserve (!) my right to return that falling apart crap to you and ask for my money back.
2. Lately the packaging of any sold-by-Amazon item is absolutely terrible… May be in my area – I don’t know.
But probably about 20% of my orders come damaged in some way – books, board games, etc. – items I REALLY would like to see in mint condition.
(I paid for a “NEW” item during the checkout, remember that Amazon?)
So yes – that damaged pile of crap that your slaves in shipping centers were not given enough time to package properly – it too goes back to Amazon.
Thank you very much for not caring about me as a customer.
And if you decide to ban me for life – so be it Jeff Stalin.

It’s definitely not just in your area. One of the ways Amazon maximizes their profit is by minimizing their packaging costs, which has led to inadequate packaging. I too got sick of receiving damaged (new) items from them, but unfortunately people like us are in the minority. Most people aren’t bothered enough to exchange the damaged items, so there’s nothing to encourage Amazon to go back to their original, far superior packaging.

I barely buy from Amazon any more as a direct result of this. Instead I support local retailers where I can inspect the item in person before committing money to it. Depending on where you’re located that might not be an option for some items, but it’s a shame to think we’ve sacrificed item condition for the sake of convenience.